Brie and Nikki Bella battle in their first singles match against one another: ECW, March 31, 2009For the first time ever, Brie and Nikki Bella face each other in a one-on-one showdown.10/05/2016 - 16:28

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The chase is on

ATLANTA — With the eyes of the Land of the Extreme's most fervent competitors locked on CM Punk's coveted ECW Championship, General Manager Armando Estrada announced an unprecedented Elimination Chase to determine the No. 1 contender for No Mercy. Commencing tonight in a Fatal Four Way Match between Elijah Burke, Tommy Dreamer, Kevin Thorn and Stevie Richards, Punk's Unforgiven opponent seized victory and ousted Richards from the golden competition. (WATCH)

Burke himself, with his boastful comments, may have been the individual who actually drew out his Elimination Chase rivals at the beginning of the night. Claiming that Punk's Unforgiven win was a fluke, the Experience argued he would beat the Straightedge Superstar for the ECW Title. His outspokenness quickly earned Burke an encounter with the macabre marauder Thorn, as well as both Originals Dreamer and Richards.

Ultimately, the interrupting ECW General Manager mandated a three-week competition between all four Superstars that would begin this week on ECW on Sci Fi and determine who would face champion CM Punk at No Mercy. The loser of each week's Elimination Chase match would be cut from the running until there was only one man left standing.

Immediately after the announcement, a four-man battle began that pit the title-focused combatants against one another in the middle of Atlanta's Phillips Arena. As Estrada warned, defeated ECW Original Richards was eliminated from the Chase after being pinned by Burke (with a seemingly strategic assist from Thorn).

Just moments after his victory, the self-proclaimed Guiding Light of ECW bumped into the man Burke just might be facing at No Mercy: CM Punk. With the ECW Championship slung over his shoulder, a confident Punk offered his luck to his rival -- luck, of course, being for losers, according to the Straightedge Superstar. He may not believe in luck, but it may be CM Punk's fortune to defend his gold against Elijah Burke one more time, live on pay-per-view in just three weeks.

Who will be the next man to fall as the Elimination Chase to No Mercy continues? Which two men will come one step closer to a title opportunity against the Straightedge Superstar?